Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Don't show me this message again

English Suite No 2 in A minor, BWV807

Introduction

With the English Suite No 2 in A minor, BWV807 we enter another world. The angular, no-nonsense subject that opens the Prelude gives birth to a movement with concerto-like proportions, even though it begins like a two-part invention. The middle section, with its repeated-note motive in the lower register, gives us a chance to catch our breath, at least momentarily. The whole of the opening section is then repeated—something which will occur in all the remaining Preludes. The energy level is high, and I am reminded of a passage in Forkel’s biography that describes Bach’s own playing:

In the execution of his own pieces he generally took the time very brisk, but contrived, besides this briskness, to introduce so much variety in his performance that under his hand every piece was, as it were, like a discourse. When he wished to express strong emotions, he did not do it, as many do, by striking the keys with great force, but by melodical and harmonical figures, that is, by the internal resources of the art. In this he certainly felt very justly. How can it be the expression of violent passion when a person so beats on his instrument that, with all the hammering and rattling, you cannot hear any note distinctly, much less distinguish one from another?

After a lyrical Allemande in which the imitative entries are inverted after the first double bar, comes a Courante that is seamless and again unhurried. The dotted rhythms we find in the first suite give way to groups of four slurred quavers in both hands. The Sarabande is noble and eloquent, but not too slow. It is the first one in the set where Bach writes out ‘les agréments’—an ornamented version of the melody. It is not clear whether these should be played on the repeat of the individual sections, or following the complete dance as a true double. In this particular case I have opted for the former, as it seems an appropriate length for the material presented. The first Bourrée, for me, should not begin too loudly, otherwise the spell is broken too suddenly. On the repeat, the dynamic level can be increased. The second Bourrée is a musette in the major key, imitating the drone of a bagpipe. It is the only truly carefree moment in the whole suite. The final Gigue is a tour de force in tarentella style, with trills pushing it upward and forward. Not content with just repeating both sections, Bach adds an extra da capo, and we hear it all for a third time with an ever-increasing sense of drive and brilliance.

Recordings

Angela Hewitt’s acclaimed recordings of Bach on the piano have received the highest critical acclaim and found their way into thousands of homes, selling nearly 400,000 copies since her recording of the Inventions burst onto the scene in 1994. Now ...» More

'The standard of excellence Angela Hewitt has set in previous installments in her Hyperion Bach cycle continues unabated with the English Suites ...'Once again, Angela Hewitt proves that she's one of the most penetrating interpreters of Bach on the piano, with a superlative account of the six Engl ...» More

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood's ‘A Bach Notebook for Trumpet' is a celebration of the music of the famous Johann Sebastian and ten other lesser-known Bachs, re-imagined for the combination of trumpet and piano.» More